University students protest security guards’ violence

* Photo: İTÜ Solidarity

Click to read the article in Turkish

Unable to find a place to stay due to lack of vacancies in dormitories, the students of İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ) were met with the violence of private security guards during their watch at the campus.

Following this attack on October 18, the students of İTÜ made a press statement in front of the İTÜ campus in Ayazağa yesterday (October 21). Several police officers accompanied their statement.

Gathering upon the call of the İTÜ solidarity, the students said, "Our friends are seeking temporary solutions at libraries and relatives' houses. We have been waging a struggle against this problem for some time. Our protest at the Central Classroom Building (MED) ended in security [guards'] terror. We are here to say that we do not accept the violence of the private security unit (ÖGB) and that we are insistent on our demand for dormitories."

ÖGB tarafından uğradığımız şiddete ve öğrenci dayanışmasına yönelik her türlü saldırıya karşı bir araya geldik.

Üniversitelerin özneleri öğrencilerdir. Hep birlikte tekrar ediyoruz: Üniversiteler bizimdir, bizimle özgürleşecek! pic.twitter.com/JXJ746K6xE

— İTÜ Dayanışması (@itudayanisma) October 21, 2021

Since late September, students across Turkey have been protesting the housing problems that emerged due to the excessive increase in rent prices and insufficient dorm capacities. (CA/DŞ/SD)